Steven Cannady was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on December 21, 2004,
during Christmas break, in eighth grade, after eating a family-size box of
Fruit Loops and spending hours on the kitchen floor before his mom got home
from work. Rob was diagnosed one week later on New Year's Day 2005. Neither
of them knew this until they were halfway through this conversation.
Twenty-one years later, they're both living actively with T1D and talking
openly about it, and it shows.
Steven has run six marathons in roughly two years, starting with the New
York City Marathon in 2024 as part of the Beyond Type 1 team. He just
earned a spot on Team Abbott for the Sydney Marathon, a seriously
competitive field. But the race that meant the most wasn't the fastest one
— it was the Raleigh-Durham marathon earlier this year, where he ran slowly
through the streets of the city that raised him, stopped to talk to friends
at mile markers, and decided that running doesn't always have to be about
the clock.
This episode gets into the nuts and bolts of marathon prep with T1D — carb
loading with Maurten, skipping insulin entirely on race day, why Steven
would rather run high than risk going low at mile 20, and how 77%
time-in-range can be genuinely excellent management. He also gets into how
a doctor scared him straight during his second DKA in 11th grade, why he
doesn't drink Diet Coke and won't pretend otherwise, and how a single
conversation shifted how he thinks about living with diabetes versus
managing around it.
Steven is MDI — no pump — and runs with fruit snacks in his pocket. He's
not interested in letting diabetes set the terms of his life. This one's
worth a full listen.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction — who is Steven Cannady?
01:17 Duke fan crashes Carolina basketball camp
02:14 Eighth grade, Christmas break, DKA diagnosis
04:05 First weeks with T1D — family holds him down
05:42 Rob and Steven were diagnosed one week apart
06:35 Going back to school and the Seattle trip prank
08:58 Going public with diabetes — why Steven started sharing
10:45 Six marathons in two years — how it started
11:42 Running as therapy and running through Durham
15:08 Running is more mental than physical
16:56 Race prep breakdown: 3 miles vs. 10 miles vs. marathon
19:12 Carb loading, Maurten, MDI, and skipping insulin on race day
22:32 Diabetes in the background — not the only conversation
24:23 Diet Coke, cookies, and the food police
25:40 Learning to run while high — reframing the numbers
28:59 Duke Camp, honeymoon phase, and bringing diabetes along for the ride
31:33 Wrapping up — Diabetes Legends camps and Team Abbott
Resources:
Steven Cannady Instagram
Maurten Gel Packs
